Just Another Ereri Fic
by canditheawesome
Summary: Romance, drama, and intrigue await in this AU Ereri story.
1. A Sour Start

**Just Another Ereri Fic**

by canditheawesome

Chapter One: A Sour Start

"It's really not that hard to understand, Eren," Mikasa commented dryly. "You won't be able to play for the rest of the season. It's too severe of a break."

Eren, who looked like someone had just shot his dog, replied, "But that's not fair! I _have _to play. The team needs me."

Grisha shook his head solemnly.

"Fair or not, Eren, your foot is broken in five places. You'll be lucky if you're able to play _next _season. Now come along." He helped his son to his feet, where he stood awkwardly balancing most of his weight on one foot and hanging onto his father's arm for support. "The ambulance is here," Grisha said, nodding to the flashing vehicle that had pulled up onto the soccer field. Eren rolled his eyes. "Dad, really? You couldn't have just driven me? This is way too over the top for a leg injury."

Armin jogged up, panting. "He wasn't the one who called them." The other three stared at him in bewilderment. "I was," Armin continued. In response to Eren's glare, he held up his hands in a gesture of goodwill, a sweat drop forming on his left temple. "Hey, don't get mad at me. Nobody knew how bad it was at first. You just went down after a loud crack and yelp. For all we know, you could have broken something worse." Eren continued to glare at him, and Grisha sighed. "He's right, Eren. Now, let's go." Eren grudgingly agreed to let the paramedics help him into the ambulance and cart him away. Mikasa hovered over him silently and Grisha conversed quietly with the head paramedic, who had given Eren a shot of morphine for the pain. Armin was chattering away in a nervous sort of manner, and Eren was only half listening. "-was some goal, though. You did a front flip in midair and the toe of your right shoe hit that ball with enough force that it went rocketing into the goal! I don't think the other team's goalie was expecting that."

"Yes, I know, Armin. I was there," he replied shortly. At Armin's crestfallen expression, he added, more nicely, "It wasn't that big of a deal. I was just determined to win."

"Yes, and if you hadn't been so determined to make it in, you might not have landed so awkwardly and gotten hurt," Mikasa said in her usually dry manner from the corner.

Eren shrugged. "Isn't winning the point?"

Mikasa narrowed her eyes slightly. "Yes, but at what cost?"

Eren frowned. "You act like I was trying to get hurt."

"When have you ever tried not to?" Mikasa quipped, looking away, her hair covering her face.

Eren opened his mouth to reply, but Armin cut him off, sensing a fight brewing. "Guys, let's just drop it, OK? It's been a long day."

The only reply to this was Grisha stating that they had arrived at the hospital.

"Well, it's not excellent news, but you'll survive," said Dr. Martin. Eren knew him pretty well, since he was his father's colleague and close friend. He blinked sleep out of his eyes, feeling nauseous. _Anesthesia, _he thought bitterly. When had that happened? His left leg felt stiff and heavy, and Eren realized groggily that it was in a cast. "We had to put five screws in your foot to hold it together and you'll be out for the rest of the season, but if you stay off of it, you should be back on the field at the beginning of next season," Dr. Martin went on, smiling in an irritatingly cheerful manner.

"Isn't that great, Eren?" Grisha asked, obviously trying to remain positive for his son. Mikasa and Armin had been picked up by their parents at some point during Eren's absence from the waking world.

"Yeah. Great," Eren muttered, crossing his arms over his chest.

So he was out for the rest of the season, and then confined to an immobile summer break immediately after.

Someone up there had to have it out for him, and it was going to get worse. He couldn't have known this, of course, but this would be the year that his whole life got flipped upside down, and the cause of it was going to be the petite man with a dark, piercing gaze who had just arrived at the airport across town, history lesson planners in hand, headed for Eren's school.


	2. It Just Keeps Getting Better

**AN: **_Sorry this took so long. I just started a new job, and a new school semester. I will try to upload a new chapter every Tuesday from now on, so stay tuned for that. I know some of these chapters are a bit short, but I'm hoping the fact that there will be a lot of them will make up for that. Special thanks to my girlfriend, Zizzlebits, for helping me out with Levi's character and for always supporting me in whatever I do. _

**Just Another Ereri Fic**

by canditheawesome

Chapter Two: It Just Keeps Getting Better

After two weeks of webcam lectures and submitting homework via email from within the dark depths of his father's traditional style mansion in Kamakura, Eren had had enough. There were only two and a half months left of school for the year, and he was going to enjoy them, damn it. Gritting his teeth against the discomfort, he made his way about a half a mile up the street to the nearest train station on crutches. From there, he took a northbound train into Tokyo where he attended Tsubasa つばさAcademy, a private school where some of the best and brightest of Eastern Japan were enrolled. He knew he was going to be late, so he called ahead to let Principal Smith know. The man just chuckled. "I admire your determination, Mr. Jaeger. Very well, I'll let Mr. Ackerman know." Eren frowned at the phone after the call ended. Mr. Ackerman? What had happened to Mr. Pixis? It was common knowledge that the man had been planning to retire, but everyone had expected that to happen at the end of the year. A small disappointment flared up inside him. He had liked Mr. Pixis. Oh, well.

When he entered homeroom, it was midlecture. Armin and Mikasa looked up, as did most of the class. Armin broke out into a happy smile and waved. Mikasa wore an expression that was a mixture of mild surprise at Eren showing up, and relief that he seemed to be recovering well.

He was about to wave at them when a rough-sounding "ahem" caught his attention. He glanced towards the source of the sound, and he realized that the person responsible for making it was the teacher, whom he had mistaken in his peripherals for another student. It wasn't hard to see why, either. The man couldn't have been more than 5'2', had a very youthful looking face, and a petite build. The only thing that really gave away his age was the scowl on his face.

"Kindly take your seat, Mr. Jaeger. I don't appreciate having my class disrupted." He spun on his heel and stalked off to the front of the room. Eren made his way over to a seat behind Mikasa and next to Armin as quickly as his crutches would allow. He set them beside his desk carefully and looked down at the boring wooden top of it, face reddening. What was this guy's problem? It wasn't as if he hadn't called ahead to notify him. Armin, seeing this look, whispered, "Don't worry about it. From what I've seen so far, he's like that with everyone." Eren looked up at him as Mikasa nodded in affirmation, and hissed, "At the beginning of class, he threw an eraser at Jean just because he accidentally knocked over some of his papers." Eren snorted, taking delight at Jean's pain. The guy was such a prick.

"Something funny, Mr. Jaeger?"

Eren froze, as did Mikasa and Armin. His gaze met Mr. Ackerman's across the room. Slowly, he shook his head. "No, sir," he replied meekly.

Mr. Ackerman's eyes were like icy arctic water, and his tone was just as frigid. "Are you sure? It seemed as though you were pretty amused."

Again, Eren shook his head. "I wasn't-."

Mr. Ackerman cut him off. "Since you're having so much fun in class, maybe you wouldn't mind coming up here and helping me out."

Eren blinked several times, clearly confused. "I...sir?"

"Come here. Now."

Eren got up slowly, chancing a glance at his friends. They looked just as bewildered as he did. His limp of shame up to the front of the class brought back his embarrassed flush tenfold. Mr. Ackerman had his arms crossed tightly across his chest, and he was tapping his foot impatiently. He was watching him the way a cat might watch a mouse, waiting for the mouse to draw close enough that the cat could get into position and pounce.

"Fuck," Eren muttered.

"What was that?" Mr. Ackerman demanded, voice sharp as knives.

"N-nothing," Eren replied quickly, finally at the front of the room beside him.

He flung out his arm, and Eren flinched. Mr. Ackerman rolled his eyes. "I'm not going to hurt you, dummy." Grabbing Eren's arm, he commanded that he open his hand. When Eren complied, he pressed a marker into it firmly. "All right, Mr. Jaeger, you're going to be my note taker for the day." When Eren didn't move, he made an irritated noise in the back of this throat and nodded to the board. "Get moving."

Eren turned to face the board, holding the marker poised and ready, writing as Mr. Ackerman continued with the lesson. Twenty minutes later, he felt a sharp rap across his knuckles, which made him cry out in surprise and nearly drop the marker. "That's not how you spell 'constitution'," Mr. Ackerman said in a bored voice. Eren fought very hard not to roll his eyes. "Then how do you spell it, sir?" he asked, taking great care to keep his tone polite. His leg was beginning to ache from standing so long without support. It felt like it was going to snap, and it wasn't the only thing that wanted to.

Mr. Ackerman's lips curved upward slightly at one corner. "Figure it out."

Eren was hoping he had imagined it, but the man sounded almost...gleeful. Was he enjoying this? Humiliating him in front of everyone?

_That's it. _

"Fine."

Fed up, Eren roughly grabbed the eraser and wiped away all of the other notes. Mr. Ackerman's smirk disappeared. "What're you-?",

But Eren wasn't finished. "Constitution," he said aloud, picking up the marker and writing on the board again. "F-U-C-K. Y-O-U. Constitution." He dropped the marker, which felt like it was steaming, and promptly turned and kicked Mr. Ackerman right in the leg. Hard.

He doubled over, hissing in pain and grabbing his leg. Before he could say anything, Eren had turned and limped back towards his crutches. He didn't dare look any of his classmates in the eye, but he could tell from the silence in the room that they were shocked. He made a grab for his crutches so he could make his grand exit, but he missed and fell from being off balance. He hit his head on a desk on the way down, blacking out for a few moments. When he opened his eyes, Mr. Ackerman was standing over him, his expression one of cold fury.

"Detention for the rest of the year, Mr. Jaeger."


	3. Detention

**Just Another Ereri Fic**

by canditheawesome

Chapter Three: Detention

_**AN**__: Wow, so I guess the updating every Tuesday thing didn't work. Sorry, guys. It's been a really hectic couple months. Health issues, school, new job, etc. But I'm back, and I'm going to attempt to make it up to you by posting five brand new chapters all at once! Enjoy._

The sky outside the classroom window was brilliantly blue, fluffy white clouds drifting lazily across it in a mellow sort of complacence. Cicadas buzzed loudly in preparation for the summer rain that had yet to fall. Children ran around playing in the streets, eating ice cream and swimming. It was summer. Lovely, wonderful summer.

And Eren didn't get to enjoy a minute of it.

It wasn't enough that his leg was broken, oh no. Somehow "the rest of the year" had meant not just the two and half months remaining of the school semester, but ALL of summer, as well.

"This has got to be illegal," Eren muttered under his breath, face propped in one hand as his other hand ached from all the writing he had to do. This was his punishment.

"It's not," came a cold voice from the doorway. Eren looked up, glared, and looked back down, not trusting himself to say anything as Mr. Ackerman entered the classroom. "Enjoying ourselves? Personally, I just had the loveliest lunch with the rest of the faculty."

Eren bit his lip.

"Outside," Mr. Ackerman continued.

Eren concentrated very hard on his paper.

"In the beautiful green grass, under the rolling, fluffy white clouds."

Eren slammed his pencil down.

"And that breeze…so refreshing."

Eren stood up.

"And just where do you think you're going, Mr. Jaeger?" The taunting tone in Mr. Ackerman's voice dropped, and he looked as if he was poised to stop Eren's retreat if need be.

Eren sighed heavily, trying with every nerve in his body to keep his tone one of cool politeness. "I'm going to the bathroom. I suppose I can't stop you from following me, but there are some things that should be done ALONE." With that, he took off as fast as his busted foot would allow, and if Mr. Ackerman had any response to that, Eren didn't hear it, because he was already halfway down the hall when the door closed.

Eren splashed his face with cold water in a vain attempt to clear his head. He raised his gaze to look at himself in the mirror, and found himself pissed off by his own expression; how easy it had been for Mr. Ackerman to get to him. He couldn't continue to give him the satisfaction. Quickly, he dried off his face with a paper towel, tossed it roughly into the trash can, and made his way back to the classroom that was to be his prison until Junior Year began in the fall.

When he entered the classroom, Mr. Ackerman had his feet propped up on his desk, and he was reading a thick book that smelled of dust. Eren wrinkled his nose and sat down to continue where he had left off. Where had that been again? Oh, right…writing "I must not be a brat" as many times as it took for the message to, erm, "sink in"…

Mr. Ackerman looked up as Eren sat down. "Your hand cramping up yet?" he asked in a bored tone.

Eren pursed his lips. _Don't let him get to you. That's what he wants. _

"Yeah, a little," he responded without looking up, careful to keep his tone in check.

"Good," he replied flatly, and went back to reading.

Two hours later, they spoke again. By now, rain was pounding the windows in sheets. The cicadas outside had never sounded happier.

Mr. Ackerman sighed and placed his book on his desk, sitting up and folding his hands in his lap. "How many pages do you have written?"

Eren dropped the pencil; his right hand was throbbing, and there was an indent on his finger from holding it. "I'm not sure, um…" He leafed through them. "15 or 16?"

"I think that's enough for the day. Go home and rest."

Eren stood up, feeling relieved and just a little bit surprised. He supposed he had been expecting Mr. Ackerman to keep him there all day, but it was only 1pm.

"And take this." Eren looked up and barely managed to react in time, but reflexively caught a heat wrap that Mr. Ackerman had tossed in his direction. His surprise must have shown on his face, because Mr. Ackerman raised his eyebrow and said, "I'm not a monster, Eren, believe it or not. You'd be surprised how civil I can be when I'm not being cursed out and kicked in the shins." Eren looked down.

"I'm sorry, sir," he said, and he found that he actually meant it. Mr. Ackerman shrugged. "I know. I'll see you tomorrow." Eren nodded, grateful to leave, because it was starting to get a little awkward.

The train ride home was a quiet one, but when he got there, Mikasa and Armin were there waiting for him. Eren looked at them in surprise. "How did you know when I would be home?"

Mikasa placidly ate a cookie and shrugged as Armin answered, "We didn't. We were just here raiding your pantry for the last hour or so and studying." He flashed him a wide grin that must have been infectious because Eren found himself grinning back.

"How did it go?" Mikasa asked, very obviously trying to be civil and not quite succeeding. It was crystal clear how she felt about their homeroom teacher. Armin cleared his throat hastily and nudged her in a silent reminder and she looked down.

Eren sighed. "Um, good, I guess. My hand really hurts, though." He pulled the heat wrap Mr. Ackerman had given him out of his backpack, suddenly remembering it was there, and started applying it to his hand, then popped his pain medication for his foot.

"Where'd you get that?" Mikasa asked.

Eren took a bite of one of the cookies on the table before him. "Mr. Ackerman," he said simply. Mikasa said nothing. Armin laughed nervously, sensing the impending tension, and suggested that they get back to studying, which Eren was grateful for, because he just wanted to relax. Mikasa was kind enough to do the note taking for him, and after they were done, he simply fell asleep under the kotatsu with both of them. It had been a long day.


	4. All Right, So it Gets a Little Better

**Just Another Ereri Fic**

by canditheawesome

Chapter Four: All Right, So It Gets a Little Better…

It hadn't even been a full month into the summer before Mr. Ackerman, for reasons unknown to Eren, told him that he didn't have any more detention to serve and to go home. Eren felt it best not to question him on it, lest he change his mind. This was perfect, he thought as he left the classroom, his leg not even bothering him half as much as it normally did. He was going to be able to make the summer festival with Armin and Mikasa, after all. Grinning profusely, he whipped out his phone to text them.

Their replies were just as enthusiastic. Armin's visibly so, with a "That's awesome! See you in an hour, then!" and Mikasa's being more on a you'd-know-if-you-knew-her-to-know-she-was-excited kind of basis, with a "Cool. Stay right there. My parents are coming to get you so that you don't have to take the train home."

Feeling a sudden immense rush of affection for both of them, he sat down on the front steps of the school to wait. Presently, there was a soft, somewhat bored-sounding "ahem" from behind him. He didn't have to look to know who it was. He had spent too much time with this man not to. Mr. Ackerman was standing on the top step, holding his briefcase. "What are you still doing here?"

Eren looked up at him, which was a first. "I'm waiting for my friend's parents to take me home."

"Text them and tell them to forget it."

"Er…why?"

Mr. Ackerman gave him a look that said "Really?" and sighed. "I'm already here. I'll take you home."

"But, are you su-?"

"Come on, let's go. It's wet and cold out here."

He was already down the steps before Eren had gotten to his feet. "Hey, wait up! Invalid here!"

Mr. Ackerman snorted. "Didn't stop you from storming off angrily…or kicking me in the shin, for that matter."

Eren looked away sheepishly. "Yeah, well…uh…"

"Get in."

He opened the passenger side door for Eren, and Eren got in gratefully. As soon as they were both inside, Mr. Ackerman turned on the heater and backed out. Eren looked around the car. What kind of teaching salary could someone afford a black sports car on? He wondered what kind of car it was, exactly. A Lamborghini? An Aston Marten?

"Where are we going?"

Eren snapped out of his reverie as his teacher's voice broke the silence. "Huh?" he said lamely.

Again with the "Really?" look.

"I'm taking you home, remember? So where is home, exactly?"

Realization dawned, and Eren immediately felt stupid. His cheeks reddened. "Oh, um, Kamakura. It's a big mansion overlooking the sea. You can't miss it."

Mr. Ackerman said nothing, but he turned on the radio, so Eren took that as a silent cue to shut up. He looked out the window at the rain dripping lazily down the side of the glass and the gloomy road that whizzed by.

Either Mr. Ackerman didn't like him, or he just wasn't a talker, because the rest of the ride passed in semi-uncomfortable silence. Mikasa and Armin were waiting on the porch, both of them looking curious, when Eren stepped out of the car and thanked his homeroom teacher for the ride home.

"Not a problem," Mr. Ackerman replied in his usual bored tone. "Oh, and by the way, it's a Trans Am."

Eren's mouth fell open. How was he a mind reader?

"Could you shut the door, please? Water's getting in my car."

"O-oh. Right. Sorry. Thanks again," Eren replied, and closed it carefully. The car backed quickly out of the drive, and then turned and sped down the road with amazing precision.

"Cool," Eren murmured.

Mikasa ran down the muddy drive towards him, her feet making splooshing sounds, holding an umbrella. "Eren, come inside before you get sick," she said dryly, sounding concerned. Armin was right behind her, holding his own umbrella. "Who was that, anyway?"

Eren declined answering, since he really wasn't in the mood to argue with Mikasa right now. He knew that she hated Mr. Ackerman, and he really couldn't blame her too much.

"Er, it's not important. Just one of the teachers at school." He silently prayed they'd think Mr. Ackerman was too much of an asshole to do it and assume it was Ms. Ral or something. Whether they believed him or not, they (thankfully) didn't press the subject.

Armin looked back at the house. "Well, we need to get ready for the festival, anyway. Come on." He got behind them and pushed them both in the smalls of their backs towards the house, where they went inside to let Eren change into dry clothes, and grab their things so they could take a train into the next town over and purchase some ceremonial outfits.

"This is harder than it looks," Mikasa muttered, watching the goldfish swim around her net, as if taunting her. The rain had cleared up by the time their little group had sauntered into the huge park where the festival was being held, and the night sky above was full of thousands of brilliant white, twinkling stars. Miniature bonfires crackled on tall piles of logs all around them, and Japanese lanterns were strung in front of what seemed like miles of booths. Add that to the people of all ages walking around in traditional robes of every color, and the whole thing was a beautiful array of light and color as far as the eye could see.

Armin smiled serenely. "There's probably a trick to it. Here, can I try?" Mikasa nodded and passed him the goldfish scooper. Armin then proceeded to stare at the water for a whole five minutes, his eyebrows knitting together in an expression of intense concentration. It was clear to everyone present that he was making calculations in his head about the proper trajectory, angle, and speed for scooping goldfish. "I think I've got it," he said finally, and surged forward in a way that could only be described as forceful. The goldfish promptly scattered, and Armin fell into the water with a cry.

Eren couldn't help it; he burst out laughing. "Oh my gosh, Armin! Hold still so I can take a picture!" He fumbled for his camera as Armin, with his butt sticking up in the air, and an expression of disdain on his face, said, "Take your time. No hurry here." He winced as something smacked him in the cheek and fell into his palm.

"Hey, look at that, you caught one!" Eren said as he blinded Armin with a flash from his camera. Armin blinked as the man running the goldfish scooping booth handed him a plastic bag to put his fish in. "Yeah, well, it's not exactly how I saw it happening," Armin growled under his breath, straightening up and thanking the man as he took his goldfish from him. Mikasa looked away and smirked. "That's what you get for trying to be smarter than everyone."

"Come on, you guys, let's go see what there is to eat. I'm starving," Eren said, and turned quickly into the crowd – only to smack right into none other than Mr. Ackerman, the last person he was expecting to see. What was even stranger was that he was dressed in a white kimono. He looked just as shocked at seeing Eren as Eren looked at seeing him, but he quickly adjusted his expression and cleared his throat. "Good evening, Mr. Jaeger," he said calmly, glancing at Armin and Mikasa as they approached. Mikasa's eyes immediately hardened, and she opened her mouth to speak but Armin cut her off. There was a booth not even five feet away selling red bean cakes, so he grabbed her arm and led her in that direction.

Eren smiled sheepishly at Mr. Ackerman, hugging his right arm with his left, unsure of what to say to him. "I was uh- Sorry." He took a step back from him and cleared his throat. "What are you doing here?"

Mr. Ackerman shrugged and looked up at the menu that was artfully painted on the wooden sign that was hanging from the top of the booth. "I was hungry," he said simply. "You?"

Eren laughed nervously. "Yeah… me, too." He followed Mr. Ackerman's gaze up to the sign and blanched. Geez, all of that was expensive. He barely had enough for the cheapest item on the menu and that was cutting it close. He may have been the son of a wealthy doctor, but it wasn't like his dad showered him in money. Grisha had always given him a very restricted allowance, and most of it went into savings. It was his way of teaching Eren about the "value of money".

Mr. Ackerman glanced over to see the grimace on Eren's face and sighed softly, pulling out his wallet. "I've got you covered."

Ere's eyes widened in surprise as he wheeled to face him. "No, no, that's okay!" He waved his hands out in front of himself as an embarrassed blush crept across his cheeks. "You already gave me a ride to my house."

Mr. Ackerman shrugged. "And? Just make it up to me somehow."

Eren gave his teacher an apprehensive look. "How?"

Mr. Ackerman ordered something to eat, pausing to look at Eren. "Go ahead and order what you want."

Tentatively, Eren did so, and as he did, Mr. Ackerman said, "In answer to your question, my company is hiring."

The vendor handed their respective orders to Eren, who handed Mr. Ackerman his. "Okay, so… Are you offering me a job?"

Mr. Ackerman took a bite of his red bean cake. "That depends. Are you looking for a job?"

Eren thought about it. He could certainly use the money. Not because he went without or anything, but because he didn't want to depend on his dad forever for obvious reasons. Eren smiled a little and countered with, "That depends. What does the job entail?"

Mr. Ackerman smirked at the kid's cheekiness. "Well we've all seen how much stamina you possess when it comes to writing."

Eren glowered at him and opened his mouth to retort, but Mr. Ackerman held up a hand to silence him. "I'm looking for a secretary," he said bluntly. "You game?"

"I don't know…" The job didn't sound very appealing. His hand still hurt from all the writing he had had to do in detention.

"It's 1,500 yen an hour."

Eren looked up. He wasn't going to get a better deal than that, especially with his busted leg. "In that case, I'm definitely game."

"Great, then. Shift starts at 6am. See you there."

Before Eren could even register what happened, Mr. Ackerman had melted into the crowd. "Um, thanks!" he yelled out. "And thanks for the food, too!" He frowned and took a bite. Mm. That was good. It was probably for the best that Mr. Ackerman had departed when he had, though, because Armin was having a difficult time attempting to restrain Mikasa any longer.

"Is that horrid midget gone?" she quipped, coming up beside Eren on his right side as Armin came up on his left.

"Yeah," Eren replied, still looking in the direction he had disappeared to. "And I guess I have a job."


	5. Just Kidding

**Just Another Ereri Fic**

by canditheawesome

Chapter Five: Just Kidding

This was balls. And ass. And shit. It was a big ball/ass/shit sandwich. Why had he ever agreed to this? He had thought that a secretarial job would mean sitting at a desk, taking phone calls, keeping logs, showing people in, and filing paperwork. Yeah. Desk stuff. Well, he'd been dead wrong. Mr. Ackerman, who had insisted that now that he was Eren's boss that Eren needed to call him "Levi", was working him to the bone.

Every five minutes it was "Get me coffee", "No, this isn't good enough", "Seriously? This tastes like dog shit", "Fax this for me", "No, the other one, idiot", "You knock over any more of my paperwork and you're a dead man", and, Eren's favorite, "You fucking suck at everything. Why did I hire you?"

Yeah, needless to say, this was not how Eren had pictured his Sunday going. After Levi asked him why the hell he'd hired him for the eighteenth (yes, einteenth, Eren was counting) time in 4 hours, Eren spun around in his chair and glared at him. "I don't know! Why did you hire me?!"

"I think I felt sorry for you, but I'm over it now. Get back to work." Eren sighed and started typing again as Levi dumped a pile of paperwork that had to be at least 3 feet high on his desk. When Eren looked exhasperatedly up at him, Levi just looked away, adjusting his tie. "I need those completed by noon. And don't get sloppy, either. I'll be able to tell." Eren glanced at the clock. It was already 11 am!

"But that's only an hour!" he protested.

"Well, then, you'd better get started," Levi replied and walked out.

Eren groaned and slumped forward, resting his forehead on the desk. "All right, Eren. Calm down. You can do this. You need this job." He straightened up, cracked his neck and knuckles, and dived into his work. Ten phone calls, seven appointments, 3.3 feet of paperwork, and a spreadsheet later, it was 3:30 pm and he had fallen asleep at the desk, a piece of paper stuck to his cheek.

Presently, Levi's office door opened and he stepped out just in time to see this, Eren snoring lightly and drooling all over the desk. He was about to give him the tongue lashing of his young life when he realized just how much he had gotten done is such a short time. He smirked, impressed. "That's a new company record…" He shook Eren's shoulder lightly. "Oi, Eren. Wake up."

Eren blinked blearily and looked up at him. "Uh?" He sat up slowly, yawning and stretching, then his eyes widened and he looked around, slightly panicked. "Oh, no! I'm sorry. I must've fallen asleep. What time is it?"

"Calm down. You're fine."

"But you said you needed it done by noon…"

"I was just being an ass."

Eren scowled. _Oh, so he's aware of it?_

"Hey, it made you work faster, didn't it? Anyway, some of my colleagues and I are going out to an early dinner. You should come along."

If Eren wasn't so taken aback by this, he was sure he would have had something to say about Levi's definite need for improvement in the invitations department.

"Really? Me?"

"Do you see any other idiots here?" Eren glowered, and he thought he saw the tiniest ghost of a smile grace Levi's lips. No. It must have been a trick of the light. At any rate, it was gone now.

"Going once," Levi said.

Eren blinked. "But I don't have any money…"

"Going twice."

"OK, ok! I'm coming." He quickly gathered up his things and stood.

"Go clock out. I'll meet you by the car." With that, he turned on his heel and stalked off.

Eren was baffled. Who was this man, anyway? It was like his moods changed in the blink of an eye from the world's biggest douchebag to gentle teacher/mentor figure. He shook his head. It was probably best not to even try to figure him out. It wasn't like they were all that close, anyway.

He punched in his time, grabbed his bag, and made a beeline for the parking lot, curious about what was in store for him that evening.


End file.
